Bottle stopper



April 13, 1948. D. G... Kom-:CKY

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Patented Apr. 13, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Donald G. Kopecky, Taft, Calif. Application February 2, 1945, Serial No. 575,787

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in stoppers designed particularly 4for use with Thermos bottles and similar types of containers, and th'e invention has for its primary object to provide an expansible body or plug portion of the stopper together with means operable outwardly thereof toexpand the plug or body into tight hermetically sealing engagement with the internal surfaces of the neck of the bottle or container. n

A further important object of the invention is to provide an expansible plug or body portion for the stopper having a flange on its outer end ,adapted to seat on the outer .edge or lip vof the neck ofthe bottle together with a rigid cap operable to compress the ilange into tight sealing engagement with the lip of the ybottle together with means for expanding the external walls of th'e plug or body into tight iitting engagement with the internal walls of the neck of the bottle.

A still further object is to provide a bottle stopper of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the de-` tails of construction and operation, as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which the gure represents a fragmentary sectional view through the neck of the bottle showing the stopper in position therein.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein for the purposes of illustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the nu- 1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-54) meral 5 designates the body portion of the stopper which may be made of resilient material like synthetic or natural rubber and which constitutes a plug adapted to fit within the neck 6 of la conventional form of Thermos bottle or oth'er suitable container.

The outer end of the body portion 5 of the stopper projects outwardly' beyond the neck 6 and is formed with an annular ilange 'I overlying the outer edge or lip of the neck of the bottle, the flange being formed on its under surface with a groove 8 adapted to conformably receive the rounded edge of the lip of the bottle.

A vertical chamber or recess 9 is formed in the body 5 in which is positioned a rigid sleeve I0 which is internally threaded and formed with a ilange II at its lower portion embedded in the j 2 lower portion of the body 5. The ange II is embedded in the body 5 above the bottom portion of thel body so that theflange and sleeve I0 are protected from contact with the contents of the bottle. 1` j The screw I2 is threaded in the sleeve I0 and projects outwardly through the top `of the body 5, the outer end of the screw having a manipulating head orknob' I3 formedthereon.

The head or knob I3 is adapted to bear against a rigid'cap I4 which is freely carried' on the upper portion of the screw I2 and completely over` lies the top of thebody 5. n n p The under side of the cap'l4 is formed with an annular groovel I5 `adapted to coniormably "re ceive an annular ribl I6 formed on theupper surface of the flange portion 1 of the body 5.

The under side of the cap I4 is also formed with an annular rib I1 projecting into the chamber 9 against th'e walls thereof, the ribY I'I pre venting lateral inward compressing movement of the upper portion of `the body 5.

"I'he central portion Yof the cap I4, at itsunder side.` is `formed with a'reces's I8 in which ametallic washer I9 is rotatably seatedand the washer I9 is rigidly mounted on thesmooth upper portion of thescrew I2.`

'I'he cap I4 may be constructed of plastic or other suitable material and cemented or otherwise suitably secured to the top of the body 5.

The head I3 of the screw I2 may also be embedded in a plastic cover 20, the under side of the head of the.v screw being flush with th'e under side of the cover 20 to bear against the top of the cap I4 at the central portion thereof.

With the parts assembled in the position as illustrated in the drawing, and with' the body or plug portion 5 of the stopper inserted in the neck 6 of the container, the screw I2 may then be manipulated to compress the plug or body 5 whereby to cause an expansion thereof and also produce a tight and hermetically sealing engagement between the surface of the plug and the inner walls of the neck of the container.

At the same time, the flange I of the plug or body portion 5 is compressed tightly downwardly against the upper edge or lip 8 of the container.

The purpose of having plug 5 cemented or otherwise secured to cap I4 as th'e nal assembly operation was included to give the assembled stopper the following advantage when in use.

When removing the stopper from the neck of the bottle the rst step is to manipulate plastic cover 20 to decompress plug 5 laterally. When plastic cover 20 has been manipulated to a certain point, plug 5 becomes decompressed to its normal shape and size, this being only slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the neck of the bottle. However, by continuing to manipulate plastic cover 20 in a decompressing direction of rotation, plug 5 is caused to be stretched vertically,

it being held down at its lower extremity by iiange II and pulled upward at its upper extremity by cap I 4, the cementing or securing of plug 5to cap I4 binding them as a unit, washer I9 acting to raise cap I4 upon manipulation of plastic cover 20.

It is now evident that the lateral diameter of plug 5 is decreased in proportion with the increase of the vertical dimension of plug 5, thus giving both fa positive and negative action to the plug 5. This action eliminates sticking or Wedging of plug 5 in neck 6. It also makes one size stoppers adaptable to a wider range of bottle neck sizes. Y Further advantage is realized from the fact that after a cert-ain period of use has elapsed the tendency of plug 5 to return to its natural size and shape is decreased. However, the compressing and retracting action of such a designed or constructed stopper naturally creates either of the above actions even though naturalV action on the part of plug 5 h'as been destroyed by continuous use, heat or other causes.. I y Y Another advantage directly related tothe cementing of plug 5 to cap I4 is as follows:

Upon manipulating cover 20 in a direction tending to stretch plug 5, an eil'ort to break the bond between cap I4 and plug 5 is created, however, this effort is controlled by the length vof 'the threads in sleeve I and on screw I2. Wh'en cover 29 has been manipulated to a point where the bonding between plug and capv I4 has reached a predetermined amount of tension, threads of sleeve I0 and screw I2 disengage makingit impossible to breakthe bond or otherwise harm the stopper. 'Ihe rounded, lower end of screw I2 maintains alignment with sleeve I0 and also is h'eld in position for immediate re-engagement by compression created by plug l5 Vso that when cover 20 is manipulated, Yin a compressing direction with relation to plug 5, threads Vare re-engaged immediately.

It is believed that the details of construction and operation, manner of operation and advantages of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing without further detailed explanation.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

A bottle stopper comprising a plug made of resilient material adapted to enter th'e neck of a bottle, the outer end of said plug projecting outwardly beyond the neck ofthe bottle and bein-g formed with an annular flange overlying the outer edge of the neck of the bottle, said ange being provided on its under surface with a grooveV adapted to conformably receive the outer edge of the neck of the bottle and on its upper surface vwith an annular rib, there being a vertical recess in said plug, an internally threaded and rigid sleeve provided with a flange at its lower end mounted in said vertical recess, the iangeV of the sleeve being imbedded within the plug above its bottom thereof, a rigid cap overlying the annular ange of said plug, said Vcap being provided on its underside with an annular groove adapted to conformably receive the annular rib on the flange of said plug and on its underside with anannular rib projecting into andl bearing -against the walls of said vertical recess, there being arecess in tl'ie central portion of said cap at its underside, a metal washer seated in the recess of said cap, anda screw extending through the recess and metalwasher in said cap and threaded-in said sleeve 'and operable'up'on.manipulation in the proper direction to compress the ange o-f the plug against the neck of the bottle and to expand the plug within the neck.

" DONALD G. KOPECKY.

REFERENCES errno The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STAT-Es PATENTS Ulanet 1 V ,Mar. 2, 1943Y 

